Stinson Prairie State Preserve

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State Preserves

Stinson Prairie is a 32-acre prairie located five miles west of Algona in Kossuth County. It was purchased in 1969 by the Kossuth County Conservation Board from Minnie and Emma Stinson, whose family had used the prairie as a hayfield since 1881. 

It was dedicated in 1971 as a biological state preserve. 

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About the Land

The preserve is located on the edge of the Algona moraine, marking the last advance and retreat of glacial ice in Iowa about 12,500 years ago. The glacial erratics (boulders) at this preserve are characteristic of igneous and metamorphic rocks that are native to the northern United States and Canada. 

The prairie potholes (marshes), sedge meadows, gentle moist slopes, and dry ridge tops are characteristic of the diverse habitats that occur over short distances in hummocky, morainal landscapes. The preserve overlooks a level outwash plain to the south, where meltwater drained away from the ice front. 

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Directions

  1. From the intersection of Highway 169 and Highway 18 in Algona, take Highway 18 west for 4.5 miles to 10th Avenue. 
  2. Turn south (left) and go 2.5 miles to the preserve on the west side of the road (sign: Stinson Prairie State Preserve— Kossuth County Conservation Board).
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Plants

Prairie habitats in the preserve range from dry to wet over short distances, supporting a total of nearly 200 plant species. 

The dry prairie occurs on the well-drained upper slopes and ridge tops of the hills. Most abundant are:

  • Porcupine grass
  • Little bluestem
  • Sideoats grama
  • Leadplant
  • Pale purple coneflower
  • Prairie sunflower
  • Rough blazing star 

The mesic prairie community blends with the dry prairie community and is found mostly on the lower well-drained slopes of the hills. It is characterized by: 

  • Indian grass
  • Big bluestem
  • Switchgrass
  • Sawtooth sunflower
  • Common mountain mint
  • Showy tick-trefoil
  • New Jersey tea 

In the drainageways between the hills and around the pothole, the sedge meadow community is defined by dense stands of sedge, prairie cordgrass, and Canada anemone. The wet depressions or potholes in the western portion of the preserve also contain smartweeds and bulrushes. 

In the spring, pasqueflower, alumroot, and yellow stargrass are the first to appear on the dry ridges. Blue-eyed grass, pussytoes, violet wood sorrel, golden alexanders, heart-leaved golden alexanders, and prairie violet can be found on the slopes among the Junegrass.

By summer, emerging on the dry soil interspersed among the rosette panic grass are:

  • Bastard toadflax
  • Prairie turnip
  • White false indigo
  • Prairie coreopsis
  • Butterfly weed
  • Roundheaded bush clover
  • Silvery scurf-pea
  • Prairie larkspur
  • Rattlesnake master

During the summer months, blooms on the slopes include:

  • Showy tick-trefoil
  • Silvery scurf-pea
  • Prairie rose
  • Gray-headed cone­flower
  • Wild bergamot
  • Toothed evening primrose
  • Wood lily
  • Oval-leaved milkweed
  • Purple prairie clover
  • Round-headed bush clover
  • Prairie blazing star
  • Compass plant bloom

Prairie Indian plantain, blue flag iris, Michigan lily, winged loosestrife, and swamp milkweed are found in the sedge meadows. 

By fall, white sage, heath aster, silky aster, smooth aster, and downy gentian are blooming. 

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Birds & Species

Birds found on the preserve include: 

  • Bobolink
  • Grasshopper sparrow
  • Upland sandpiper
  • Meadowlarks 

Butterfly species found here include the Poweshiek skipperling on the dry prairie and the dion skipper in the wet prairie. 

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Visitor Information

Other public areas in the vicinity include Ambrose A. Call State Park and Union Slough National Wildlife Refuge.

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